Father Roderick


Podcast by Dutch Priest. And he's a geek, also!

One of my favorite podcasts is the Catholic Insider, by Father Roderick Vonhögen, a Dutch priest.

With a combination of both classical and modern music, soundseeing tours of Dutch and Roman churches and the Vatican (including extensive tours during the Pope's funeral activities), a fluency in, by my count, at least five languages (Dutch, English, Spanish, French, and Italian. And probably German and Latin as well), boyish charm and outright geekiness, he instructs, entertains, exhorts, and dazzles.

Roderick takes on The DaVinci Code and shows just how shallow and sophomoric the vaunted research for that book actually is. He explains the symbolism to be found in Catholic churches. He explains the process of electing a new Pope. He interviews people he finds in St. Peter's Square. He interviews a Dutch Cardinal. He gets up at 3:30 AM to get a favored place in line to view the Pope in state. He takes us along on a visit to his sister and the family Easter festivities, and discusses the equipment he uses for podcasting with a brother-in-law who is an audio engineer.

Apparently, he has gotten Vatican radio interested in podcasting. He has been interviewed by CNN and by various Dutch news organizations.

The man is indefatigable. How he minds his normal church duties, generates at least 5 podcasts a week (he's fallen off the last week, but previous weeks it was more than 5), researches the DaVinci Code stuff and anything else he presents, and travels frequently to Rome, I cannot imagine.

And the capper, that I learned in yesterday's podcast: he is a Star Wars (and to a lesser extent, a Star Trek) fan. He promises us to discuss the religious symbolism in Star Wars in future podcasts.

I am not a Catholic, nor am I likely ever to be. But I like Father Roderick, and admire the way he is pioneering podcasting for the Catholic Church. And I listen every chance I get.

Posted: Mon - April 18, 2005 at 08:49 PM        

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